Thursday Movie Picks: Romantic Comedies

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! After work, I’ll be sharing a romantic dinner at home with my Husband…oh and our one-year-old who will be stealing food from our plates even though she’ll have already eaten her own dinner. Dessert will most likely have to wait till after her bedtime because it’s difficult to eat a chocolate tart whilst also reading a colourful board book 26 times in a row.

This week’s theme for Thursday Movie Picks (hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves) is Romantic Comedies. I love a good rom com…in fact I love terrible rom coms too, I don’t discriminate. They were my go-to genre of choice before I got into blogging so I’ve always held them dear to my heart. Here are my favourites!

The Proposal (2009)

How is The Proposal 10 years old?! Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock are the sassiest, sarcastic and most perfect on-screen couple but the supporting cast are just as great in this. I kid you not, I can recite this movie word for word. Also, funny story. My (then) boyfriend and I went to New York to celebrate 5 years of being together, on the first night we put the TV on in the hotel room and this movie was on. The next morning we did the Top of the Rock experience at the Rockefeller Center and he proposed! He’d had it planned for ages but the movie being on was such a weird coincidence!

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

My love for Crazy, Stupid, Love is probably a little obsessive. I’ve bought at least 10 copies over the years to give as gifts in the hope that I can make more people watch it. It just works – it’s a laugh out loud comedy with several sweet romantic stories within. It even has a great twist! Such a perfect movie.

The Break-Up (2006)

Back in 2006, I was only starting to get into movies, and like I said in the opening post, I almost exclusively watched romantic comedies. I was also super in love with Jennifer Aniston (still am) so The Break-Up was an ideal pick for me to watch. What I was not expecting was to have the rug pulled under my feet in an unexpected and heartbreaking ending. I haven’t actually seen it since – because I can’t forgive it for upsetting me like that!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Sounds like a wonderful day for you and your family. 🙂 And great list to mark the occasion. I don’t watch many rom-coms, but The Proposal is definitely one of my favourites. Alongside 10 Things I Hate About You and Elizabethtown!

I wasn’t too fond of The Break-Up though it won some respect from me with the realistic ending. Those two were poison to each other.

I enjoyed both of the others though The Proposal’s main conceit was pretty outrageous, but then that’s hardly unique in romantic comedy and Betty White makes up for a lot of sins. Gosling and Emma Stone paired so well in Crazy, Stupid Love much better in my opinion than La La Land (which left me cold).

I’m a sucker for romantic comedies too and have watched a countless number so I figured the easiest way to decide on three was pick one performer most associated with the genre-Cary Grant- and go with some of his best.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)-Playboy artist Richard Nugent (Cary Grant) appears before Judge Margaret Turner (Myrna Loy) for fighting at a nightclub, after a stern warning she dismisses the charge. That same day, Nugent happens to lecture at a high school, where Margaret’s teenage sister, Susan (Shirley Temple), falls head-over-heels for him. Things get complicated when Susan sneaks into and is found in his apartment. Back before Judge Turner she orders him to date Susan as a way of easing her attraction. It only gets crazier from there as Richard (now Dickie) embraces his rediscovered teenhood while finding himself attracted to Margaret and vice versa. Breezy comedy (which won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar) is Shirley’s best adult film with all three stars working at top speed.

Houseboat (1958)-Tom Winston (Cary Grant) is struggling to raise his three children on his own after his wife’s death. He meets the charming and beautiful Cinzia Zaccardi (Sophia Loren) at a concert and hires her as a live-in nanny. Unbeknownst to Tom, Cinzia is actually a European socialite on the run from her domineering father (Harry Guardino) and has absolutely no experience with cooking, cleaning or raising children. The fiery Cinzia and staid Tom butt heads until they discover a shared attraction. Cary & Sophia were seriously involved (and almost married) during filming.

I like The Proposal and thoughtnit was quite funny especially the creepy guy who has many jobs. I liked The Breakup and it is a bit more mature than I thought it would be. I haven’t seen Crazy Stupid Love but now I want to.

I know she’s an Oscar nominee now, but I would love another Emma Stone romcom. (Easy A is probably not a romcom, so I am mentioning this merely to illustrate Emma Stone’s awesomeness. Haha.) And I too love a good terrible romcom. Netflix has a bunch. So does Matthew McConaughey. 😀

The Break-Up is so underrated. Glad to see it get some love. I also really like Crazy, Stupid Love. Carrell was great, no doubt, but this is the movie that showed me Ryan Gosling could do comedy. Unfortunately, I hated The Proposal, but I’ll chalk that up to you loving even bad rom-coms, lol.

I feel your love for Crazy, Stupid, Love. While I am not really a big fan of the rom-com genre, the love I have for that movie also borders on a bit crazy. I always recommend it, I rewatch it frequently, that little twist was some of the most fun I’ve had watching a movie, and it is just great overall. So keep gifting, it’s a great gift!

PS: I can’t think trying to eat chocolate tart on the go with a book and a kid demanding another reread would be the way to go 😛 Well played on the after bed choice.

I think that’s why I’ve ended up recommending Crazy, Stupid, Love so much, I feel like it’s the perfect romcom for people who don’t like romcoms!
(Trying to eat anything around this kid is impossible – she follows you with grabby hands saying Oooooo like a Toy Story alien!)